A wonderful ghost story; being Mr. H.'s own narrative; a recital of facts with unpublished letters from Charles Dickens respecting it

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A WONDERFUL GHOST STORY.

LETTERS FROM CHARLES DICKENS
HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED.

Gad's Hill Place,

higham-by-rochester, kent,

Sunday, Sept. \$th, 1861.

Dear Sir,

Allow me to express to you
the sincere regret I feel that your
most remarkable story (which I have
read with great interest) should have
been innocently forestalled in the pages
of my journal. At the same time, I must
add that your own version of the expe-
rience is so very curious, and so much

8 Letters.

more striking than the account sent to

me, that I shall be happy to publish it in

All the Year Rozind, if you should feel

disposed to entrust it to me for that

purpose.

I received the story published in that
journal first among the ° Four Ghost
Stories," from a gentleman of a distin-
guished position, both literary and social,
who, I do not doubt, is well known to
you by reputation. He did not send it
to me as his own, but as the work of a
young writer in whom he feels an interest,
and who previously contributed (all
through him) another ghost story. I
will immediately let him know what

Letters, g

correspondence I have had with you,
and you shall be made acquainted with
the nature of his reply.

You may be quite certain, I feel sure,
that there has been no betrayal of confi-
dence on the part of any one connected
with the magazine for whom you re-
served your story. It must have been
repeatedly told (though probably never
correctly) in more circles than one. It
happens that Mr Layard is staying here
with me, and instantly recognised the
version printed in All the Year Round,
as a version of a story he heard at Sir
Edward Lytton's, in Hertfordshire, some
time since.

io Letters.

As I do not feel myself authorised in
retaining your MS. without your consent
I beg to return it herewith. But I am
anxious to repeat my readiness to pur-
chase it for publication in All the Year
Round, as the authentic story. Its in-
terest seems to me to be heightened,
rather than impaired, by its having been
imperfectly told.

Again expressing my regret that I
should have been, however innocently
and unconsciously, the cause of a mo-
ment's annoyance to you,

I am, dear Sir, faithfully yours,

Charles Dickens.
Thomas Heaphy, Esq.

Gad's Hill Place,

HlGHAM-BY-ROCHESTER, KENT,

Tuesday, Sept. 17///, 1861.

Dear Sir,

I think I can show you in a very
few words, not only that your lingering
suspicion is groundless, but that every-
thing associated with your strange ex-
perience would seem to be extraordi-
nary. In the version I received and
published, there was no date. All that
was set down as to time was " late in

1 2 Letters.

the autumn." When I came to revise
the story in the proof for press, the need
of some precise date was so clear to me,
that I myself inserted on the margin of
the proof the date you find in the pub-
lished narrative. Why that date should
have come into my head rather than
any other, I am profoundly unable to
say. Mr Layard remembers that it is
more than a year since he heard Sir
Edward Lytton tell the story, and he
says he has a strong impression that he
laid it on the table in writing. More-
over, Mr Layard is convinced that he
has since seen it in print, though he
cannot recollect where. I have written

Letters. \ 3

to Sir Edward to ask him how he came
by it. His answer will, no doubt, have
an interest for you, and I will let you
know the purport in due course. I read
Mr Layard your own account, and he
was quite clear in his remembrance that
Sir Edward's version of it fell as far
short as my contributor's does. I think

it would be best to call it Mr H fs

Own Narrative, or Mr H '$ Own

Evidence, and I will introduce it with a
few lines referring to the version al-
ready printed, and calling attention to it
as being the authentic story given at
first-hand. There is no doubt that it
ought to appear as soon after the wrong

B

14 Letters.

version as possible. I will therefore
place it in the number I shall make up
to-morrow, which will be published to-
morrow fortnight. I will send you a
proof from the office in the course of
to-morrow, and I must ask you to have
the kindness to return it on Thursday,
as we publish simultaneously in America
and London, and the sheets go across
the Atlantic by the next mail.

Dear sir, faithfully yours,

Charles Dickens.
Thomas Heaphy, Esq.

P.S. — I observed in your narrative
that you mention the young lady's eating

Letters. 1 5

the beef and drinking the claret. Do
you remember whether the joint was
placed on the table or carved on the
sideboard ? and whether you seemed to
see the figure served as the three mortals
were, or seemed to find it already carved
without noticing the progress ?

Office of " All the Year Round,"
Friday, Sept 20th, 1861.

Dear Sir,

Mr Layard has not been able
to remember where or when he saw
some version of your story in print. Sir
Edward Lytton received his version in
writing from Mr Edward Ward. Sir
Edward informs me that his version was
very superior to that published here,
I therefore suppose it is told nearer your
own. He is searching for the MS., but

Letters. 1 7

has not yet been able to lay his hand
upon it.

Faithfully yours,

Charles Dickens.

Thomas Heaphy, Esq.

Extract, re " Mr H!s Own Narrative"
from John Forsters " Life of Charles
Dickens" vol. Hi., page 483.

" Among his good things (Charles
Dickens') should not be omitted his
telling of a ghost story. He had some-
thing of a hankering after them, as the
readers of his briefer pieces well know ;
and such was his interest generally in
things supernatural that, but for the
strong restraining power of his common
sense, he might have fallen into the
follies of Spiritualism. As it was, the

extract. 1 9

fanciful side of his nature stopped short
at such pardonable superstitions as those
of dreams and lucky days, or other
marvels of natural coincidence ; and no
man was readier to apply sharp tests to
a ghost story or a haunted house, though
there was just so much tendency to
believe in any such ' well authenticated '
as made perfect his manner of telling
one. Such a story is related in the
125th number of All the Year Round %
which before its publication both Mr
Layard and myself saw at Gad's Hill,
and identified as one related by Lord
Lytton. It was published in September,
and in a day or two led to what Dickens

20 Extract.

will relate : — ' The artist himself, who
is the hero of that story (to Lord Lytton,
15th September 1861), has sent me in
black and white his own account of the
whole experience, so very original, so
very extraordinary, so very far beyond
the version I have published, that all
other stories turn pale before it.'

" The ghost story thus reinforced
came out in the number published on
the 5th of October ; and the reader who
cares to turn to it and compare what
Dickens in the interval (17th of Sep-
tember) wrote to myself will have some
measure of his readiness to believe in
such things. Upon the publication of

Extract. 2 1

the ghost story up has started the
portrait-painter who saw the phantoms !
His own written story is out of all
distance the most extraordinary that was
ever produced, and is as far beyond my
version of Bulwer's as Scott is beyond
James. Everything connected with it
is amazing, but conceive this — the
portrait-painter had been engaged to
write it elsewhere as a story for next
Christmas, and not unnaturally supposed,
when he saw himself anticipated in All
the Year Round, that there had been
treachery at his printers. ' In particular/
says he (Mr H.), 'how else was it pos-
sible that the date, the 1 3th of Septem-

2 2 Extract.

ber, could have been got at ? For I
never told the date until I wrote it/
Now, my story had no date ; but seeing
when I looked over the proof, the great
importance of having a date, I (C. D.)
wrote in unconsciously the exact date on
the margin of the proof."

MR h:s own narrative.

There was lately published in All the
Year Roimd a paper entitled Four
Stories. The first of those stories
related the strange experience of "a
well-known English artist, Mr H." On
the publication of that account, Mr H.
himself addressed the conductor of the
above Journal (to his great surprise),
and forwarded to him his own narrative
of the occurrences in question.

As Mr H. wrote, without any con-

24 Mr H!s Own Narrative.

cealment, in his own name in full, and
from his own studio in London, and as
there was no possible doubt of his being
a real existing person and a responsible
gentleman, it became a duty to read his
communication attentively. And great
injustice having been unconsciously done
to it, in the version published as the
first of the " Four Stories," it follows
here exactly as received. It is, of
course, published with the sanction and
authority of Mr H., and Mr H. has
himself corrected the proofs.

Entering on no theory of our own
towards the explanation of any part of
this remarkable narrative, we have pre-

Mr H.'s Own Narrative. 25

vailed on Mr H. to present it without
any introductory remarks whatever. It
only remains to add, that no one has for
a moment stood between us and Mr H.
in this matter. The whole communica
tion is at first hand. On seeing the
article, " Four Stories," Mr H. frankly
and good-humouredly wrote, " I am the
Mr H., the living man, of whom mention
is made ; how my story has been picked
up, I do not know, but it is not correctly
told ; I have it by me, written by
myself, and here it is."

A WONDERFUL GHOST STORY.

I am a painter. One morning in May
1858, I was seated in my studio at my
usual occupation. At an earlier hour
than that at which visits are usually made,
I received one from a friend whose ac-
quaintance I had made some year or two
previously in Richmond Barracks, Dublin.
My acquaintance was a captain in the
3rd West York Militia, and from the
hospitable manner in which I had been
received while a guest with that regi-
ment, as well as from the intimacy that

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 2 7

existed between us personally, it was
incumbent on me to offer my visitor
suitable refreshments ; consequently, two
o'clock found us well occupied in conver-
sation, cigars, and a decanter of sherry.
About that hour a ring at the bell re-
minded me of an engagement I had
made with a model, or a young person
who, having a pretty face and neck,
earned a livelihood by sitting for them
to artists. Not being in the humour for
work, I arranged with her to come on
the following day, promising, of course,
to remunerate her for her loss of time,
and she went away. In about five
minutes she returned, and, speaking to

28 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

me privately, stated that she had looked
forward to the money for the days sit-
ting and would be inconvenienced by the
want of it ; would I let her have a part ?
There being no difficulty on this point,
she again went. Close to the street in
which I live there is another of a very
similar name, and persons who are not
familiar with my address often go to it
by mistake. The models way lay
directly through it, and, on arriving
there, she was accosted by a lady and
gentleman, who asked if she could in-
form them where I lived ? They had
forgotten my right address, and were
endeavouring to find me by inquiring of

A Wonderftd Ghost Story. 29

persons whom they met ; in a few more
minutes they were shown into my room.
My new visitors were strangers to me.
They had seen a portrait I had painted,
and wished for likenesses of themselves
and their children. The price I named
did not deter them, and they asked to
look round the studio to select the style
and size they should prefer. My friend
of the 3rd West York, with infinite ad-
dress and humour, took upon himself the
office of showman, dilating on the merits
of the respective works in a manner that
the diffidence that is expected in a pro-
fessional man, when speaking of his own
productions, would not have allowed me
c

30 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

to adopt. The inspection proving satis-
factory, they asked whether I could paint
the pictures at their house in the country,
and there being no difficulty on this
point, an engagement was made for the
following autumn, subject to my writing
to fix the time when I might be able to
leave town for the purpose. This being
adjusted, the gentleman gave me his
card, and they left. Shortly afterwards
my friend went also, and on looking for
the first time at the card left by the
strangers, I was somewhat disappointed
to find that though it contained the name
of Mr and Mrs Kirkbeck, there was no
address. I tried to find it by looking at

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 3 1

the Court Guide, but it contained no
such name, so I put the card in my
writing-desk, and forgot for a time the
entire transaction.

Autumn came, and with it a series
of engagements I had made in the
north of England. Towards the end
of September 1858, I was one of a
dinner-party at a country-house on the
confines of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Being a stranger to the family, it was
by a mere accident that I was at the
house at all. I had arranged to pass
a day and a night with a friend in the
neighbourhood, who was intimate at
the house, and had received an invita*

32 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

tion, and the dinner occurring on the
evening in question, I had been asked
to accompany him. The party was a
numerous one, and as the meal ap-
proached its termination, and was about
to subside into the dessert, the con-
versation became general. I should
here mention that my hearing is defec-
tive ; at some times more so than at
others, and on this particular evening
I was extra deaf — so much so, that
the conversation only reached me in
the form of a continued din. At one
instant, however, I heard a word dis-
tinctly pronounced, though it was
uttered by a person at a considerable

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 33

distance from me, and that word was
— Kirkbeck. In the business of the
London season I had forgotten all
about the visitors of the spring, who
had left their card without the address.
The word reaching me under such cir-
cumstances arrested my attention, and
immediately recalled the transaction to
my remembrance. On the first oppor-
tunity that offered, I asked a person
whom I was conversing with if a
family of the name in question was
resident in the neighbourhood. I was
told, in reply, that a Mr Kirkbeck

lived at A , at the farther end of

the county. The next morning I wrote

34 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

to this person, saying that I believed
he called at my studio in the spring,
and had made an arrangement with
me, which I was prevented fulfilling
by there being no address on his card ;
furthermore, that I should shortly be
in his neighbourhood on my return
from the north, but should I be mis-
taken in addressing him, I begged
he would not trouble himself to reply
to my note. I gave as my address,
The Post-office, York. On applying
there three days afterwards, I received
a note from Mr Kirkbeck, stating that
he was very glad he had heard from
me, and that if I would call on my

A Wonderful Ghost Story,

return, he would arrange about the
pictures ; he also told me to write a
day before I proposed coming, that he
might not otherwise engage himself.
It was ultimately arranged that I should
go to his house the succeeding Satur-
day, stay till Monday morning, transact
afterwards what matters I had to attend
to in London, and return in a fort-
night to execute the commissions.

The day having arrived for my visit,
directly after breakfast I took my place
in the morning train from York to
London. The train would stop at Don-
caster, and after that at Retford junction,
where I should have to p*et out in order

36 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

to take the line through Lincoln to

A . The day was cold, wet, foggy,

and in every way as disagreeable as I
have ever known a day to be in an
English October. The carriage in which
I was seated had no other occupant
than myself, but at Doncaster a lady got
in. My place was back to the engine
and next to the door. As that is con-
sidered the ladies' seat, I offered it to
her ; she, however, very graciously de-
clined it, and took the corner opposite,
saying, in a very agreeable voice, that
she liked to feel the breeze on her cheek.
The next few minutes were occupied in
locating herself. There was the cloak

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 37

to be spread under her, the skirts of the
dress to be arranged, the gloves to be
tightened, and such other trifling ar-
rangements of plumage as ladies are
wont to make before settling themselves
comfortably at church or elsewhere, the
last and most important being the plac-
ing back over her hat the veil that con-
cealed her features. I could then see
that the lady was young, certainly not
more than two or three-and-twenty ; but
being moderately tall, rather robust in
make, and decided in expression, she
might have been two or three years
younger. I suppose that her complexion
would be termed a medium one ; her

38 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

hair being of a bright brown, or auburn,
while her eyes and rather decidedly
marked eyebrows were nearly black.
The colour of her cheek was of that pale
transparent hue that sets off to such
advantage large expressive eyes, and
an equable firm expression of mouth.
On the whole, the ensemble was rather
handsome than beautiful, her expression
having that agreeable depth and har-
mony about it that rendered her face
and features, though not strictly regular,
infinitely more attractive than if they had
been modelled upon the strictest rules of
symmetry.

It is no small advantage on a wet

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 39

day and a dull long journey to have an
agreeable companion ; one who can con-
verse, and whose conversation has suffi-
cient substance in it to make one forget
the length and the dreariness of the
journey. In this respect I had no de-
ficiency to complain of, the lady being
decidedly and agreeably conversational.
When she had settled herself to her
satisfaction, she asked to be allowed to
look at my Bradshaw, and not being a
proficient in that difficult work, she
requested my aid in ascertaining at what
time the train passed through Retford
again on its way back from London to
York. The conversation turned after-

40 A Wonderfod Ghost Story.

wards on general topics, and, somewhat
to my surprise, she led it into such par-
ticular subjects as I might be supposed
to be more especially familiar with ;
indeed, I could not avoid remarking
that her entire manner, while it was
anything but forward, was that of one
who had either known me personally or
by report. There was in her manner a
kind of confidential reliance when she
listened to me, that is not usually ac-
corded to a stranger, and sometimes she
actually seemed to refer to different
circumstances with which I had been
connected in times past. After about
three-quarters of an hour's conversation

ronderful Ghost Story. 4]

the train arrived at Retford, where I
was to change carriages. On my alight-
ing and wishing her good morning, she
made a slight movement of the hand, as
if she meant me to shake it, and on my
doing so she said, by way of adieu, " I
dare say we shall meet again ;" to which
I replied, " I hope that we shall all meet
again," and so parted, she going on the
line towards London, and I through

Lincolnshire to A . The remainder

of the journey was cold, wet, and dreary.
I missed the agreeable conversation,
and tried to supply its place with a book
I had brought with me from York, and
the Times newspaper, which I had pro-

42 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

cured at Retford. But the most dis-
agreeable journey comes to an end at
last, and half-past five in the evening
found me at the termination of mine.
A carriage was waiting for me at the
station, where Mr Kirkbeck was also
expected by the same train, but as he
did not appear, it was concluded he
would come by the next — half an hour
later ; accordingly, the carriage drove
away with myself only.

The family being from home at the
moment, and the dinner hour being
seven, I went at once to my room to un-
pack and to dress; having completed
these operations, I descended to the

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 43

drawing-room. It probably wanted some
time to the dinner hour, as the lamps
were not lighted, but in their place a
large blazing fire threw a flood of light
into every corner of the room, and more
especially over a lady who, dressed in
deep black, was standing by the chim-
ney-piece warming a very handsome
foot on the edge of the fender. Her face
being turned away from the door by
which I had entered, I did not at first
see her features ; on my advancing into
the middle of the room, however, the
foot was immediately withdrawn, and
she turned round to accost me, when, to
my profound astonishment, I perceived

44 A Wonderftd Ghost Story.

that it was none other than my com-
panion in the railway carriage. She be-
trayed no surprise at seeing me ; on the
contrary, with one of those agreeable
joyous expressions that make the plainest
woman appear beautiful, she accosted
me with, M I said we should meet
again."

My bewilderment at the moment
almost deprived me of utterance. I
knew of no railway or other means by
which she could have come. I had cer-
tainly left her in a London train, and
had seen it start, and the only con-
ceivable way in which she could have
come was by going on to Peterborough,

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 45

and then returning by a branch to A ,

a circuit of about ninety miles. As soon
as my surprise enabled me to speak, I
said that I wished I had come by the
same conveyance as herself.

" That would have been rather diffi-
cult," she rejoined.

At this moment the servant came with
the lamps, and informed me that his
master had just arrived, and would be
down in a few minutes.

The lady took up a book containing
some engravings, and having singled one

out (a portrait of Lady ), asked me

to look at it well and tell her whether I
thought it like her.

D

46 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

I was engaged trying to get up an
opinion, when Mr and Mrs Kirkbeck
entered, and shaking me heartily by the
hand, apologised for not being at home
to receive me ; the gentleman ending by
requesting me to take Mrs Kirkbeck in
to dinner.

The lady of the house having taken
my arm, we marched on. I certainly
hesitated a moment to allow Mr Kirk-
beck to pass on first with the mysterious
lady in black, but Mrs Kirkbeck not
seeming to understand it we passed on at
once. The dinner-party consisting of us
four only, we fell into our respective
places at the table without difficulty, the

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 47

mistress and master of the house at the
top and bottom, the lady in black and
myself on each side. The dinner passed
much as is usual on such occasions. I,
having to play the guest directed my
conversation principally, if not exclu-
sively to my host and hostess, and I
cannot call to mind that I or any one
else once addressed the lady opposite.
Seeing this, and remembering something
that looked like a slight want of atten-
tion to her on coming into the dining-
room, I at once concluded that she was
the governess. I observed, however, that
she made an excellent dinner; she seemed
to appreciate both the beef and the tart,

48 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

as well as a glass of claret afterwards ;
probably she had had no luncheon, or
the journey had given her an appetite.

The dinner ended, the ladies retired,
and after the usual port, Mr Kirkbeck
and I joined them in the drawing-room.
By this time, however, a much larger
party had assembled. Brothers and
sisters-in-law had come in from their
residences in the neighbourhood, and
several children, with Miss Hardwick,
their governess, were also introduced to
me. I saw at once that my supposition
as to the lady in black being the gover-
ness was incorrect. After passing the
time necessarily occupied in compliment-

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 49

ing the children, and saying something
to the different persons to whom I was
introduced, I found myself again engaged
in conversation with the lady of the rail-
way carriage, and as the topic of the
evening had referred principally to por-
trait-painting, she continued the subject.

" Do you think you could paint my
portrait ? " the lady inquired.

"Yes, I think I could, if I had the
opportunity/'

" Now, look at my face well ; do you
think you should recollect my features ? "

" Yes, I am sure I should never forget
your features."

" Of course I might have expected

50 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

you to say that ; but do you think you
could do me from recollection ? "

" Well, if it be necessary, I will try ;
but can't you give me any sittings ? "

" No, quite impossible ; it could not
be. It is said that the print I showed to
you before dinner is like me; do you
think so ? "

" Not much," I replied ; " it has not
your expression. If you can give me
only one sitting, it would be better than
none."

" No ; I don't see how it could be."

The evening being by this time rather
far advanced, and the chamber candles
being brought in, on the plea of being

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 5 1

rather tired, she shook me heartily by
the hand, and wished me good night.
My mysterious acquaintance caused me
no small pondering during the night. I
had never been introduced to her, I had
not seen her speak to any one during
the entire evening, not even to wish
them good night — how she got across
the country was an inexplicable mys-
tery. Then why did she wish me to
paint her from memory, and why could
she not give me even one sitting ?
Finding the difficulties of a solution to
these questions rather increased upon
me, I made up my mind to defer
further consideration of them till break-

52 A Wonderful Ghost Story,

fast-time, when I supposed the matter
would receive some elucidation.

The breakfast now came, but with it
no lady in black. The breakfast over,
we went to church, came home to
luncheon, and so on through the day,
but still no lady, neither any reference
to her. I then concluded that she must
be some relative, who had gone away
early in the morning to visit another
member of the family living close by.
I was much puzzled, however, by no
reference whatever being made to her,
and finding no opportunity of leading
any part of my conversation with the
family towards the subject, I went to

A Wonder/id Ghost Story. 53

bed the second night more puzzled than
ever. On the servant coming in in the
morning, I ventured to ask him the
name of the lady who dined at the table
on the Saturday evening, to which he
answered :

"A lady, sir? No lady, only Mrs
Kirkbeck, sir."

" Yes, the lady that sat opposite me
dressed in black ? "

" Perhaps Miss Hard wick, the gover-
ness, sir?"

" No, not Miss Hardwick ; she came
down afterwards."

" No lady as I see, sir."

" O dear me, yes, the lady dressed in

54 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

black that was in the drawing-room
when I arrived, before Mr Kirkbeck
came home ? "

The man looked at me with surprise
as if he doubted my sanity, and only
answered, " I never see any lady, sir,"
and then left.

The mystery now appeared more
impenetrable than ever — I thought it
over in every possible aspect, but could
come to no conclusion upon it. Break-
fast was early that morning, in order
to allow of my catching the morning
train to London. The same cause
also slightly hurried us, and allowed
no time for conversation beyond that

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 55

having direct reference to the business
that brought me there; so, after ar-
ranging to return to paint the portraits
on that day three weeks, I made my
adieus, and took my departure for town.
It is only necessary for me to refer
to my second visit to that house, in
order to state that I was assured most
positively, both by Mr and Mrs Kirk-
beck, that no fourth person dined at
the table on the Saturday evening in
question. Their recollection was clear
on the subject, as they had debated
whether they should ask Miss Hard-
wick, the governess, to take the vacant
seat, but had decided not to do so ;

56 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

neither could they recall to mind any-
such person as I described in the whole
circle of their acquaintance.

Some weeks passed. It was close
upon Christmas. The light of a short
winter day was drawing to a close, and
I was seated at my table, writing letters
for the evening post. ' My back was
towards the folding-doors leading into
the room in which my visitors usually
waited. I had been engaged [some
minutes in writing, when without hear-
ing or seeing anything, I became aware
that a person had come through the
folding-doors, and was then standing
beside me. I turned, and beheld the

A Wonderful Ghost Story. ■ 5 7

lady of the railway carriage. I sup-
pose that my manner indicated that I
was somewhat startled, as the lady, after
the usual salutation, said, " Pardon me
for disturbing you. You did not hear
me come in." Her manner, though it
was more quiet and subdued than I
had known it before, was hardly to be
termed grave, still less sorrowful. There
was a change, but it was that kind of
change only which may often be ob-
served from the frank impulsiveness of
an intelligent young lady, to the com-
posure and self-possession of that same
young lady when she is either betrothed
or has recently become a matron. She

58 A Wondei'ftil Ghost Story.

asked me whether I had made any
attempt at a likeness of her. I was
obliged to confess that I had not. She
regretted it much, as she wished one
for her father. She had brought an
engraving (a portrait of Lady M. A.)
with her that she thought would assist
me. It was like the one she had asked
my opinion upon at the house in Lin-
colnshire. It had always been con-
sidered very like her, and she would
leave it with me. Then (putting her
hand impressively on my arm) she
added, "She really would be most
thankful and grateful to me if I would
do it'' (and if I recollect rightly, she

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 59

added), "as much depended on it!' See-
ing she was so much in earnest, I took
up my sketch-book, and by the dim
light that was still remaining began to
make a rapid pencil sketch of her. On
observing my doing so, however, instead
of giving me what assistance she was
able, she turned away under pretence
of looking at the pictures around the
room, occasionally passing from one to
another so as to enable me to catch a
momentary glimpse of her features. In
this manner I made two hurried but
rather expressive sketches of her, which
being all that the declining light would
allow me to do, I shut my book, and

60 A I Wonderful Ghost Story.

she prepared to leave. This time, in-
stead of the usual " Good morning,"
she wished me an impressively pro-
nounced " Good-bye," firmly holding
rather than shaking my hand while
she said it. I accompanied her to the
door, outside of which she seemed rather
to fade into the darkness than to pass
through it. But I referred this impres-
sion to my own fancy.

I immediately inquired of the servant
why she had not announced the visitor
to me. She stated that she was not
aware there had been one, and that any
one who had entered must have done so
when she had left the street door open

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 61

about half an hour previously, while she
went across the road for a moment.

Soon after this occurred I had to fulfil
an engagement at a house near Bosworth
Field, in Leicestershire. I left town on
a Friday, having sent some pictures,
that were too large to take with me, by
the luggage train a week previously, in
order that they might be at the house on
my arrival, and occasion me no loss of
time in waiting for them. On getting
to the house, however, I found that they
had not been heard of, and on inquiring
at the station, it was stated that a case
similar to the one I described had passed
through and gone on to Leicester, where
E

62 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

it probably still was. It being Friday,
and past the hour for the post, there was
no possibility of getting a letter to
Leicester before Monday morning, as
the luggage office would be closed there
on Sunday ; consequently I could in no
case expect the arrival of the pictures
before the succeeding Tuesday or Wed-
nesday. The loss of three days would
be a serious one ; therefore, to avoid it,
I suggested to my host that I should
leave immediately to transact some busi-
ness in South Staffordshire, as I should
be obliged to attend to it before my
return to town, and if I could see about
it in the vacant interval thus thrown

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 63

upon my hands, it would be saving me
the same amount of time after my visit
to his house was concluded. This ar-
rangement meeting with his ready assent,
I hastened to the Atherstone station on
the Trent Valley Railway. By refer-
ence to Bradshaw, I find that my route

lay through L , where I was to

change carriages, to S , in Stafford-
shire. I was just in time for the train

that would put me down at L at

eight in the evening, and a train was

announced to start from L for

S at ten minutes after eight, an-
swering, as I concluded, to the train in
which I was about to travel. I there-

64 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

fore saw no reason to doubt but that I
should get to my journey's end the same
night ; but on my arriving at L — r- I
found my plans entirely frustrated. The
train arrived punctually, and I got out
intending to wait on the platform for the
arrival of the carriages for the other
line. I found, however, that though the

two lines crossed at L , they did

not communicate with each other, the

L station on the Trent Valley line

being on one side of the town, and the
L station on the South Stafford-
shire line on the other. I also found
that there was not time to get to the
other station so as to catch the train the

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 65

same evening ; indeed, the train had
just that moment passed on a lower
level beneath my feet, and to get to
the other side of the town, where it
would stop for two minutes only, was
out of the question. There was, there-
fore, nothing for it but to put up at the
Swan Hotel for the night. I have an
especial dislike to passing an evening
at an hotel in a country town. Dinner
at such places I never take, as I had
rather go without than have such as I
am likely to get. Books are never to
to be had, the country newspapers do
not interest me. The Times I have
spelt through on my journey. The

66 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

society I am likely to meet have few
ideas in common with myself. Under
such circumstances, I usually resort to
a meat tea to while away the time, and
when that is over, occupy myself in
writing letters.

This was the first time I had been in

L , and while waiting for the tea, it

occurred to me how, on two occasions
within the past six months, I had been
on the point of coming to that very place,
at one time to execute a small commis-
sion for an old acquaintance, resident
there, and another to get the materials
for a picture I proposed painting of an
incident in the early life of Dr Johnson.

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 67

I should have come on each of these
occasions had not other arrangements
diverted my purpose and caused me to
postpone the journey indefinitely. The
thought, however, would occur to me,

" How strange ! Here I am at L

by no intention of my own, though I
have twice tried to get here and been
balked." When I had done tea, I thought
I might as well write to an acquaintance
I had known some years previously, and
who lived in the Cathedral-close, asking
him to come and pass an hour or two
with me. Accordingly I rang for the
waitress and asked :

« Does Mr Lute live in L ? "

68 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

" Yes, sir."

" Cathedral-close ? "

" Yes, sir."

" Can I send a note to him ? "

" Yes, sir."

I wrote the note, saying where I was,
and asking if he would come for an hour
or two and talk over old matters. The
note was taken ; in about twenty minutes
a person of gentlemanly appearance, and
what might be termed the advanced
middle age, entered the room with my
note in his hand, saying that I had sent
him a letter, he presumed, by mistake,
as he did not know my name. Seeing,
instantly, that he was not the person I

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 69

intended to write to, I apologised, and
asked whether there was not another Mr

Lute living in L ■ ?

" No, there was none other."
11 Certainly," I rejoined, " my friend
must have given me his right address,
for I had written to him on other occa-
sions here. He was a fair young man,
he succeeded to an estate in conse-
quence of his uncle having been
killed while hunting with the Ouorn
hounds, and he married, about two
years since, a lady of the name of
Fairbairn."

The stranger very composedly re-
plied, " You are speaking of Mr Clyne ;

jo A Wonderful Ghost Story.

he did live in the Cathedral-close, but
he has now gone away."

The stranger was right, and in my
surprise I exclaimed :

" Oh dear, to be sure, that is the
name ; what could have made me address
you instead ? I really beg your pardon ;
my writing to you, and unconsciously
guessing your name, is one of the most
extraordinary and unaccountable things
I ever did. Pray pardon me."

He continued very quietly,

" There is no need of apology ; it
happens that you are the very person I
most wished to see. You are a painter,
and I want you to paint a portrait of my

A Wonderftcl Ghost Story. 7 1

daughter ; can you come to my house
immediately for the purpose ? "

I was rather surprised at finding my-
self known by him, and the turn matters
had taken being so entirely unexpected,
I did not at the moment feel inclined
to undertake the business ; I therefore
explained how I was situate, stating that
I had only the next day and Monday at
my disposal. He, however, pressed me
so earnestly, that I arranged to do what
I could for him in those two days ; and
having put up my baggage and arranged
other matters, I accompanied him to
his house. During the walk home, he
scarcely spoke a word, but his taciturnity

J 2 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

seemed only a continuance of his quiet
composure at the inn. On our arrival
he introduced me to his daughter Maria,
and then left the room. Maria Lute
was a fair and a decidedly handsome
girl of about fifteen ; her manner was,
however, in advance of her years, and
evinced that self-possession, and, in the
favourable sense of the term, that
womanliness, that is only seen at such
an early age in girls that have been left
motherless, or from other causes thrown
much on their own resources.

She had evidently not been informed
of the purpose of my coming, and only
knew that I was to stay there for the

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 73

night ; she therefore excused herself for
a few moments, that she might give the
requisite directions to the servants as to
preparing my room. When she returned,
she told me that I should not see her
father again that evening, the state of
his health having obliged him to retire
for the night ; but she hoped I should
be able to see him some time on the
morrow. In the meantime, she hoped I
would make myself quite at home, and
call for anything I wanted. She herself
was sitting in the drawing-room, but
perhaps I should like to smoke and
take something ; if so, there was a fire
in the house-keepers room, and she

74 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

would come and sit with me, as she
expected the medical attendant every
minute, and he would probably stay
to smoke and take something. As the
little lady seemed to recommend this
course, I readily complied. I did not
smoke or take anything, but sat down
by the fire, when she immediately joined
me. She conversed well and readily,
and with a command of language
singular in a person so young. With-
out being disagreeably inquisitive, or
putting any question to me, she seemed
desirous of learning the business that
had brought me to the house. I told
her that her father wished me to paint

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 75

either her portrait or that of a sister of
hers, if she had one.

She remained silent and thoughtful
for a moment, and then seemed to com-
prehend it at once. She told me that a
sister of hers, an only one, to whom her
father was devotedly attached, died near
four months previously ; that her father
had never yet recovered from the shock
of her death. He had often expressed
the most earnest wish for a portrait of
her, indeed, it was his one thought ; and
she hoped, if something of the kind
could be done, it would improve his
health. Here she hesitated, stammered,
and burst into tears. After a while she

J 6 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

continued : " It is no use hiding from
you what you must very soon be aware
of. Papa is insane — he has been so
ever since dear Caroline was buried.
He says he is always seeing dear Caro-
line, and he is subject to fearful delu-
sions. The doctor says he cannot tell
how much worse he may be, and that
everything dangerous, like knives or
razors, is to be kept out of his reach.
It was necessary you should not see
him again this evening, as he was unable
to converse properly, and I fear the
same may be the case to-morrow ; but
perhaps you can stay over Sunday, and
I may be able to assist you in doing

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 77

what he wishes." I asked whether they
nad any materials for making a likeness
■a photograph, a sketch, or anything
else for me to go from. " No, they had
nothing." " Could she describe her
clearly?" She thought she could; and
there was a print that was very much
like her, but she had mislaid it. I
mentioned, that with such disadvantages,
and in such an absence of materials, I
did not anticipate a satisfactory result.
I had painted portraits under such
circumstances, but their success much
depended upon the powers of descrip-
tion of the persons who were to assist
me by their recollection ; in some in-

F

78 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

stances I had attained a certain amount
of success, but in most the result was
quite a failure. The medical attendant
came, but I did not see him. I learnt,
however, that he ordered a strict watch
to be kept on his patient till he came
again the next morning. Seeing the
state of things, and how much the little
lady had to attend to, I retired early
to bed. The next morning I heard
that her father was decidedly better;
he had inquired earnestly, on waking,
whether I was really in the house, and
at breakfast-time he sent down to say
that he hoped nothing would prevent
my making an attempt at the portrait

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 79

immediately, and he expected to be
able to see me in the course of the
day.

Directly after breakfast I set to work,
aided by such description as the sister
could give me. I tried again and again,
but without success, or, indeed, the least
prospect of it. The features, I was told,
were separately like, but the expression
was not. I toiled on the greater part of
the day with no better result. The dif-
ferent studies I made were taken up to
the invalid, but the same answer was
always returned — no resemblance. I
had exerted myself to the utmost, and,
in fact, was not a little fatigued by so

80 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

doing — a circumstance that the little lady
evidently noticed, as she expressed her-
self most grateful for the interest she
could see I took in the matter, and re-
ferred the unsuccessful result entirely to
her want of powers of description. She
also said it was so provoking ! she had a
print — a portrait of a lady, that was so
like, but it had gone — she had missed it
from her book for three weeks past. It
was the more disappointing, as she was
sure it would have been of such great
assistance, I asked if she could tell me
who the print was of, as, if I knew, I
could easily procure one in London.
She answered, Lady M. A. Imme-

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 8 1

diately the name was uttered the whole
scene of the lady of the railway car-
riage presented itself to me. I had my
sketch-book in my portmanteau upstairs,
and, by a fortunate chance, fixed in it
was the print in question, with the two
pencil sketches. I instantly brought
them down, and showed them to Maria
Lute. She looked at them for a mo-
ment, turned her eyes full upon me, and
said slowly, and with something like
fear in her manner, " Where did you get
these ? " Then quicker, and without
waiting for my answer, " Let me take
them instantly to papa." She was away
ten minutes, or more ; when she returned,

82 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

her father came with her. He did not
wait for salutations, but said, in a tone
and manner I had not observed in him
before, " I was right all the time ; it was
you that I saw with her, and these

sketches are from her, and from no one

i
else. I value them more than all my

l
possessions, except this dear child. "

The daughter also assured me that the

print I had brought to the house must

be the one taken from the book about

three weeks before, in proof of which

she pointed out to me the gum marks at

the back, which exactly corresponded

with those left on the blank leaf.

From the moment the father saw

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 83

these sketches, his mental health re-
turned.

I was not allowed to touch either of
the pencil drawings in the sketch-book,
as it was feared I might injure them ;
but an oil picture from them was com-
menced immediately, the* father sitting
by me hour after hour, directing my
touches, conversing rationally, and in-
deed cheerfully, while he did so. He
avoided direct reference to his delusions,
but from time to time led the conversa-
tion to the manner in which I had
originally obtained the sketches. The
doctor came in the evening, and, after
extolling the particular treatment he

84 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

had adopted, pronounced his patient
decidedly, and he believed permanently,
improved.

The next day being Sunday, we all
went to church. The father, for the first
time since his bereavement. During a
walk which he took with me after lun-
cheon, he again approached the subject
of the sketches, and after some seeming
hesitation as to whether he should con-
fide in me or not, said, " Your writing to

me by name, from the inn at L , was

one of those inexplicable circumstances
that I suppose it is impossible to clear
up. I knew you, however, directly I
saw you ; when those about me con-

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 85

sidered that my intellect was disordered,
and that I spoke incoherently, it was
only because I saw things that they did
not. Since her death, I know, with a
certainty that nothing will ever disturb,
that at different times I have been in
the actual and visible presence of my
dear daughter that is gone — oftener, in-
deed, just after her death than latterly.
Of the many times that this has oc-
curred, I distinctly remember once see-
ing her in a railway carriage, speaking
to a person seated opposite ; who that
person was I could not ascertain, as my
position seemed to be immediately be-
hind him. I next saw her at a dinner-

86 A Wonderful Ghost Story.

table, with others, and amongst those
others, unquestionably, I saw yourself.
I afterwards learnt that at that time I
was considered to be in one of my
longest and most violent paroxysms, as
I continued to see her speaking to you,
in the midst of a large assembly, for
some hours. Again I saw her, stand-
ing by your side, while you were en-
gaged in either writing or drawing. I
saw her once again afterwards, but the
next time I saw yourself was in the inn
parlour/'

The picture was proceeded with
the next day, and on the day after
the face was completed, and I after-

A Wonderful Ghost Story. 87

wards brought it with me to London
to finish.

I have often seen Mr L. since
that period ; his health is perfectly re-
established, and his manner and con-
versation are as cheerful as can be
expected within a few years of so great
a bereavement.

The portrait now hangs in his bed-
room, with the print and the two
sketches by the side, and written be-
neath is : " C. L., 13th September 1858,
aged 22."

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By S. C. HALL, F.S.A.

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